US Pay Gap Calculator — Gender Wage Gap Tool
Compare two salary figures and instantly see the pay gap as a percentage, cents-per-dollar earned, the absolute annual difference, and the estimated lifetime earnings gap over a 40-year career. Pre-loaded with U.S. BLS 2023 median figures — edit any value.
Salary period
Group A earns this % more than Group B annually
- 1
Absolute gap
65,312 − 54,392 = 10,920 - 2
Pay gap %
10,920 ÷ 65,312 × 100 = 16.7
How does this calculator work?
Pay gap % = (higher salary − lower salary) ÷ higher salary × 100. U.S. BLS 2023 data shows women earn ~83¢ per dollar men earn (raw, unadjusted median), a ~17% gap worth roughly $10,900/year or ~$436,000 over a 40-year career.
Formula
How this is calculated
The pay gap is the simplest measure of earnings inequality between two groups: it divides the absolute difference in salaries by the higher salary and expresses the result as a percentage. A 17% gap means Group B earns 83 cents for every dollar Group A earns — the widely cited "83 cents on the dollar" figure from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data on median usual weekly earnings of full-time workers.
This calculator uses 2023 BLS Current Population Survey medians as its default values ($1,256/week for men, $1,046/week for women, converted to annual figures). These are raw medians — they do not control for occupation, hours worked, experience, education or location. Economists call this the "unadjusted" or "raw" gap. The controlled gap, which adjusts for those factors, is typically smaller. You can replace the defaults with any two salaries to compare custom scenarios.
The lifetime estimate multiplies the annual gap by 40 years (a typical full career). This is illustrative — it ignores career progression, promotions, and investment of the difference. The "extra weeks" figure shows how many additional weeks Group B must work each year to match Group A's annual pay.
Frequently asked questions
Using BLS median weekly earnings data for 2023, women who work full-time earn about 83 cents for every dollar men earn — a raw (unadjusted) gap of roughly 17%. This figure does not control for occupation, hours, or experience.
The raw gap compares median earnings without controlling for any factors. The adjusted gap holds occupation, experience, education and hours constant — it is typically 2–8%. Both measure real disparities; they just ask different questions.
Yes. The tool compares any two salary figures. Use it for race, age, education-level, or any other pay comparison by entering the relevant median or average earnings.
Also known as
TG we-Calculate Editorial Team. (2026). US Pay Gap Calculator — Gender Wage Gap Tool [Online calculator]. TG we-Calculate. https://we-calculate.com/calculator/pay-gap-us-calculator
TG we-Calculate Editorial Team. "US Pay Gap Calculator — Gender Wage Gap Tool." TG we-Calculate. 2026. https://we-calculate.com/calculator/pay-gap-us-calculator.
TG we-Calculate Editorial Team, "US Pay Gap Calculator — Gender Wage Gap Tool," TG we-Calculate, 2026. [Online]. Available: https://we-calculate.com/calculator/pay-gap-us-calculator
@misc{wecalculate_pay_gap_us_calculator, title = {US Pay Gap Calculator — Gender Wage Gap Tool}, author = {{TG we-Calculate Editorial Team}}, howpublished = {\url{https://we-calculate.com/calculator/pay-gap-us-calculator}}, year = {2026}, note = {TG we-Calculate} }
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